Portsmouth Health UNISON’s Mark Inch is a trainee clinical scientist and the branch’s Labour Link and Young Member’s Officer; he was recently redeployed onto a COVID-19 ward at the Queen Alexandra Hospital and wanted to thank his colleagues for their tremendous efforts. Portsmouth has been particularly hard hit by the virus with over 200 deaths […]

Throughout the current Covid-19 national emergency, we’re seeing once more the importance of learning for people’s wellbeing and mental health. UNISON South East’s Regional Learning and Development Organiser, Abbey Dunn, and Area Organiser, Vicki Gibbs, have developed an hour long wellbeing webinar for all members within the South East. It is vital that we look […]

Responding to figures published today (Tuesday) by the Office for National Statistics showing that more Covid-19 related deaths are now being recorded in the South East’s care homes than in hospitals, and that the total number of recorded deaths in the region has risen week-on-week, UNISON South East regional secretary Steve Torrance said: “These latest ONS figures […]

Agnes Sitjar, is a UNISON Steward at Andover, Basingstoke & Winchester Hospitals branch and is part of the team that was the first in UK hospital’s to develop a live test for Covid-19. Agnes spoke to us about the challenges she has been facing during Covid-19: “As a Specialist Biomedical Scientist in Microbiology in Hampshire […]

With regional meetings and events currently suspended due to lockdown and social distancing, we recently held several informal branch forums, initially focusing on the branches engaged in frontline work during the crisis. The first forums were held the day after the televised announcement from the PM that lockdown was to be eased. Branches shared their experiences during Covid-19 lockdown, including success stories, issues […]

I hope this email finds you safe and well ahead of the last bank holiday of Spring. I know that many of you will be working throughout, but for those that are able to take some time off, I hope you manage to have an enjoyable and well-deserved break (with appropriate social distancing obviously!) I’m […]

Responding to Labour leader Keir Starmer’s proposal at Prime Minister’s questions yesterday (Wednesday) that health and care staff should be exempted from the immigration health surcharge, UNISON South East regional secretary Steve Torrance said: “Dealing with the pandemic has shown more than ever how NHS and care services rely on staff from overseas. It beggars belief that […]

We hear from Rebecca Storer, a Health Care Assistant (HCA) and UNISON member at University Hospital Southampton, on what it’s been like working through the Covid-19 crisis, and how the crisis has led to innovations in PPE. I’ve worked as an HCA in the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) at University Hospital Southampton for almost two years. We look after patients arriving from the Emergency […]

Responding to figures published today (Tuesday) by the Office for National Statistics showing 1,800 care home deaths in the South East of England linked to coronavirus up to 8 May, UNISON South East regional secretary Steve Torrance said: “This is a shocking price being paid by elderly and vulnerable people whose families believed they were being kept […]